South Korea’s major companies reported weaker earnings than expected for the first quarter of the year, data showed Wednesday, which could further exacerbate the already-slowed local stock market.

The data compiled by market researcher FnGuide shows that 25 out of 72 firms that released their first-quarter earnings missed market estimates, most of them construction, shipbuilding and petrochemical firms.

Samsung Heavy Industries, a major shipbuilder, reported an operating loss of 363 billion won ($353 million) during the first quarter, as it set aside a large amount of reserves against possible losses from deals to build offshore facilities.

Brokerage houses expected an operating income of 218 billion won.

S-Oil Corp., the country’s third-largest refiner, also failed to meet market estimates by reporting an operating income of 47.2 billion won for the first quarter. Securities firms had bet on an operating income of more than 100 billion won. (Yonhap)